Ferguson Clerk Fired For Racist Emails: Firing Felt Like I ‘Was Raped’
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D.B. Hirsch is a political activist, news junkie, and retired ad copy writer and spin doctor. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Real news. With snark, invective, and lots of links. Guaranteed behaving badly.
jasperjava April 8th, 2015 at 9:40 pm
God, what a horrible person.
How soon before some conservative dirtbag sets up a GoFundMe account for her so that racist right-wingers can send her their money?
Guy Lauten April 8th, 2015 at 9:56 pm
I wonder how many of those right-wingers would continue to give if they understood they were participating in the re-distribution of wealth. They are certainly giving the recipients a mighty tempting incentive to never work again, pushing them into a “taker” lifestyle. Tsk tsk… what’s a bigot to do?
Dwendt44 April 9th, 2015 at 12:58 pm
I’m sure they will have an excuse.
CHOCOL8MILK April 8th, 2015 at 10:04 pm
SMH, so stupid how these idiots always try to turn things around in order to attempt to make themselves out to be victims.
whatthe46 April 8th, 2015 at 10:31 pm
so, i guess she’s going to jump on the bandwagon (racist, bigot lottery called gofundme)
burqa April 8th, 2015 at 10:44 pm
Ive been fired but have never been raped. Still, somehow I think there’s a dramatic difference between how either one feels…
……………………………………..but her hairdresser has quite a sense of humor, eh?
Robert M. Snyder April 9th, 2015 at 12:19 am
She may be speaking from experience. According to this 2014 article in the Huffington Post, there’s a 20 percent chance that she has actually experienced rape in her lifetime.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/09/rape-in-america-cdc-study_n_5784686.html
jasperjava April 9th, 2015 at 1:26 am
Bullshit. If she actually had been raped, she would know better than to make that odious comparison.
No, she’s just another right-wing racist freak who poisons the world by her very existence and yet believes that SHE is the victim. Disgusting piece of trash.
Robert M. Snyder April 9th, 2015 at 2:14 am
And you’ve never done anything that you’d be ashamed to see revealed on national TV? Chances are, if we could review a tape of everything you’ve ever said or written, a lot of people would be calling you a disgusting piece of trash. And when your name and face appeared on national TV, you’d probably feel like you’d been raped too. The trouble with people who call others “disgusting pieces of trash” is that they have no humility…no consciousness of their own shortcomings. And that poisons the world as much as anything else.
rg9rts April 9th, 2015 at 2:15 am
You have the empathy of Eichmann
jasperjava April 9th, 2015 at 12:06 pm
He has sympathy FOR Eichmann.
whatthe46 April 9th, 2015 at 9:32 am
if she were ashamed, she wouldn’t have gone on national t.v.
Robert M. Snyder April 9th, 2015 at 9:35 am
Good point.
lynchie April 9th, 2015 at 11:50 am
excuses, excuses, excuses. She knew they were racist and got caught. Times have changed and that is unacceptable in the workplace especially. Go put your hood on, you will feel more comfortable.
Robert M. Snyder April 9th, 2015 at 11:58 am
Someone named “lynchie” just told me to put my hood on. That’s pretty rich.
jasperjava April 9th, 2015 at 12:02 pm
Better to be a lynchie than a lyncher.
jasperjava April 9th, 2015 at 12:02 pm
I’ll tell you right now, I’ve never forwarded a racist email in my life, and at work I conduct myself in as professional a manner as I can.
None of us are perfect, but you don’t have to be perfect to avoid being a piece of right-wing conservative trash.
You talk about humility, but you defend white supremacists. Your inclination to fancy yourself superior to other people by virtue of your skin color (even admitting that you find racist jokes funny) is hardly humble.
tracey marie April 9th, 2015 at 12:14 pm
she is a disgusting piece of trash, she is an abomination, she is a racist and you are no better with your defense of her
rg9rts April 9th, 2015 at 2:14 am
Take a good look
Robert M. Snyder April 9th, 2015 at 2:24 am
I have taken a good look. In my 55 years I have told many racist jokes, and laughed at racist jokes told by others. Who hasn’t?
rg9rts April 9th, 2015 at 5:10 am
Good humor all the way to the cattle car
Robert M. Snyder April 9th, 2015 at 8:59 am
You’re not afraid of me. You’re afraid of your innermost self.
rg9rts April 9th, 2015 at 10:48 am
YOU can’t scare me!!!!~!!~ I’ve faced death by being married TWICE
Robert M. Snyder April 9th, 2015 at 11:15 am
Slow learner???
rg9rts April 9th, 2015 at 11:19 am
I finally did….if one must…play house…both parties work harder at it if they know the door is always open
Robert M. Snyder April 9th, 2015 at 11:32 am
Thanks for reminding me to do something nice for my wife today.
rg9rts April 9th, 2015 at 2:13 pm
Good idea…keeps them off balance
tracey marie April 9th, 2015 at 12:17 pm
what rancid bs from you as usual
jasperjava April 9th, 2015 at 11:56 am
Richard Pryor’s jokes aren’t racist. They denounce racism. Interesting that you can’t tell the difference.
tracey marie April 9th, 2015 at 12:16 pm
I have never told, laughed at or had an email like hers send or told to me. I was raised properly you and she were not
Robert M. Snyder April 9th, 2015 at 7:57 pm
We’ve already established that your parents were wonderful and mine were scum. The only thing left to determine is whether the utter lack of humanity in me is due nature or nurture. What do you think, Tracey Marie? Was my inhumanity determined by genetics at the moment of conception, or could I have been rescued if only your parents had adopted me in time?
Anomaly 100 April 9th, 2015 at 12:29 pm
I’m glad you admit to your failings.
I’ve never told a racist joke.
Robert M. Snyder April 9th, 2015 at 7:49 pm
If a tree falls in the forest, and there’s nobody there to hear it, does it make a sound? If someone tells a blonde joke, or a Pollack joke, or a racial joke, and no member of the group is there to hear it, does it do any harm?
jasperjava April 9th, 2015 at 9:26 pm
Yes it does.
I’m neither blonde, nor Polish, nor a member of a racial minority, but I find jokes like that tasteless and offensive.
Even if there’s no one like me around, and everybody laughs, it’s still harmful. The unenlightened members of this group of laughing troglodytes go their separate ways, and consciously or unconsciously spread their prejudice and stereotypes wherever they go. They are part of the problem.
Robert M. Snyder April 9th, 2015 at 11:29 pm
This blog (Liberaland) builds a sense of community by making fun of the “other”, namely conservatives, Republicans, rural folks, and Christians. While the articles may be directed at specific individuals, the comments and humor are frequently directed at the above groups.
Many of the people who post here “consciously or unconsciously spread their prejudice and stereotypes wherever they go.”
Are they also part of the problem?
Judaism, Islam, Christianity, liberalism, and conservatism are all voluntary systems of belief. If it’s not okay to ridicule Jews or Muslims, then why does this group tolerate ridicule of any such group?
You’re telling me that occasional, private joke-telling is bad because it reinforces ugly stereotypes. But this blog reinforces prejudice and stereotypes about certain groups in a very PUBLIC way on a daily basis.
This blog was never intended to promote greater understanding and respect among liberals and conservatives. It is obviously intended to showcase the worst things that conservatives say and do. And in so doing, it reinforces existing prejudice and stereotypes.
Methinks that people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
jasperjava April 10th, 2015 at 12:25 am
When conservatives become people who deserve understanding and respect, be sure to let me know.
It’s an evil ideology based on the grossest, meanest, most vile instincts of the human heart. It promotes ignorance, violence, war, inequality, misery, and division.
You cannot compare it to religions with long traditions that have stood the test of time. Modern American conservatism is a death cult, and its adherents believe wild fantastical theories that have no bearing with reality.
Robert M. Snyder April 10th, 2015 at 1:06 am
“When conservatives become people who deserve understanding and respect, be sure to let me know.”
That one sentence says it all.
About one third of your fellow citizens self-identify as conservative. It is hardly a fringe group. But in your world, those people do not “deserve understanding and respect” because YOU disagree with their values. So it’s okay to ridicule all conservatives because they are all bad people.
This is precisely the logic that hate groups use to justify their intolerance. We started out talking about a few blonde/Polish/racial jokes that are privately exchanged between a few friends. But you are now attempting to justify why one third of the American electorate does not “deserve understanding and respect” and why it’s okay to publicly denigrate and ridicule this entire class of people.
You mention that religions have long traditions that have stood the test of time. Are you referring to the veiling of Muslim women? The requirement for Muslim women to always have a male chaperone when leaving the house? The prohibition against a Muslim woman having a male doctor view her lady parts? The prohibition against women serving as Catholic priests? The Catholic prohibitions against birth control and abortion? The Muslim teachings on homosexuality?
Yes, these traditions have stood the test of time.
If you can respect those who self-identify as Muslims or Catholics, why can you not respect those who self-identify as conservatives? You don’t have to accept a person’s beliefs in order to respect the person.
jasperjava April 10th, 2015 at 2:31 am
People who follow a certain religious tradition are usually born into it. It is strongly linked to their cultural identity.
I don’t know what makes anyone become a conservative. Is it harsh toilet training? Childhood head trauma? Lack of education? A psychopathic inability to have empathy for others? An abnormal lesion of the brain that causes hypersensitivity to fear and paranoia? A dysfunctional family structure? A local culture steeped in hate, racism, and xenophobia? Sexual repression and hysteria? Too much testosterone combined with macho expectations? Something in the water?
Whatever it is, it’s galling that people who suffer from conservative tendencies never seem to seek treatment. They seem to believe that this is a perfectly acceptable way of being. It would be sad if they were only hurting themselves. As it is, they create political and social conditions that affect millions of decent people. It’s pretty hard to have any sympathy for destructive behavior.
Robert M. Snyder April 10th, 2015 at 1:17 pm
At birth, a baby has no mental concept of the external world. Over time, as a child develops, that child formulates a mental model of the people, places, and natural phenomena in the part of the world that he inhabits.
One of the first things a baby learns to recognize is the sound of his mother’s voice, the shape of her face, the color of her skin, the texture of her hair, the flavor and odor of her breast milk, and the fragrance of her perspiration or her breath. The child learns to associate those sensory experiences with safety and comfort and nourishment.
When a different person pick up and holds the baby, those sensory experiences are somewhat different. The baby may feel somewhat less safe and less comfortable. When my son was a baby, he cried whenever someone with white hair tried to hold him. Nobody taught him to fear people with white hair. He just did.
As a child develops, his world becomes larger. He begins to develop a mental model of his bedroom, his house, his yard, and his community. If he is stung by a single bee, he may learn to fear all bees. If he is bitten by a single dog, he may learn to fear all dogs.
It is not difficult to see why evolution might have given humans a propensity for generalization. Ten thousad years ago, humans who quickly learned to fear bees and wolves were probably much more likely to survive and reproduce than humans who insisted on giving each new bee and each new wolf a chance to be “best buddies”.
It seems likely to me that humans are programmed by evolution to notice things like skin color, hair color, hair texture, facial expressions, and many other attributes of humans and other living things. We are the descendents of prehistoric ancestors who were very effective at noticing small differences. When a tribe of Native Americans was migrating from one place to another, if a child and his mother became separated, they both needed the ability to recognize one another among a group of perhaps a few hundred people who had similar appearance.
If that migrating tribe met up with another tribe that was unfriendly, it was important for every member of that tribe to quickly learn the distinguishing features of the other tribe: their manner of dress, the sound of their speech, and any distinguishing physical features such as skin coloration, hair texture, or facial proportions. Learning to distinguish friend from foe can be just as important as learning to recognize the danger of bees and wolves.
All of these experiences contribute to the developing child’s mental model of the world in which he lives. As a child develops language skills, he is able to learn about people, places, and natural phenomena that he has not directly experienced. All cultures, including Native Americans, engage in story-telling to pass along a sense of history and tradition. These stories shape the child’s mental model of who he is in relation to other people, and who his tribe is in relation to other tribes.
At some point, Native American story-telling began to include stories about “the white man”. At the same time, European story-telling began to include stories about “the red man”. Most Native Americans and most Europeans did not have direct contact with the people described in these stories. The stories contained imagery that became incorporated into the mental models of the listeners. No child can hear the story of Pocohontas (or the Lone Ranger) without forming a mental image of Native Americans and Europeans working together as allies.
The more direct and indirect experiences a child has, the larger and more complex their mental model of the world becomes. A child who fears bees can learn to overcome that fear and become a beekeeper. A child who fears dogs can overcome that fear and become a dog lover. But even a beekeeper might be afraid of African killer bees, and even a dog lover might be afraid of pit bulls, even if they have never had any direct contact with African killer bees or pit bulls. Very often a person’s fears are based upon what they believe to be reliable information.
Jesse Jackson once said “There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking about robbery. Then I look around and see someone white and feel relieved.”
I think this statement illustrates the fact that, as humans, we are all programmed by evolution to associate the observable characteristics of other people with relative safety or relative danger. Jesse Jackson undoubtedly watches a lot of TV news. He has undoubtedly seen hundred or thousands of stories about black-on-black crime in urban areas. Those stories have become incorporated into his mental model of the world in which he lives. His gut reaction (“feeling relieved”) is not a consequence of his ignorance of the world, but of knowledge of the world.
I find myself in much the same place as Jesse Jackson. It pains me at this stage in my life that I generally feel safer in predominantly white areas of cities than I do in predominantly black areas. I have seen many of the same news stories as Jesse Jackson, and they have also influenced my own mental model of the world. My mental model also contains stories about the Tuskeegee Airmen, Dr. King, and other blacks who have done remarkable things. And it also contains stories such as To Kill a Mockingbird in which whites have done despicable things.
Our mental models are messy because the world is messy. Our mental models are different because we experience the world in different ways. I think that liberals and conservatives are all guilty of oversimplifying the parts of the world that we have not directly experienced. Someone who has never raised crops is likely to think that if you just plant some seeds and water them, nature will take care of the rest. In reality, there are hundreds of things that can go wrong and it takes decades for a gardener to really become skillful.
A good friend’s daughter graduated from a liberal arts college with a degree in elementary education. She signed up with Teach for America and taught for several years in rural Mississippi. A lot of her initial assumptions turned out to be wrong. Shief among these is the assumption that everyone would be willing to work hard to learn the skills that could help them to get ahead. Implicit in the phrase “to get ahead” is the assumption that people are not comfortable in their present circumstances. This assumption turned out to be wrong. She has come to the painful conclusion that a lot of her students and their families are not interested in careers or in significant material wealth. So her mental model of the world is changing. The model that she had when she graduated from college was incomplete or inaccurate.
I don’t know whether this young woman self-identifies as a liberal or a conservative. It seems likely that her mental model of the world would cause her to support some policies that might be called liberal, and other policies that might be called conservative. I find myself in a similar position. Compared to people who regularly comment on this blog, I am conservative. But when I am in the company of friends and relatives who call themselves conservatives, I am frequently the person who is making the liberal arguments.
People are liberal because their mental models of the world cause them to feel more comfortable with liberal policies. Peopel are conservative because their mental models cause them to feel more comfortable with conservative policies. I suspect that people who are far-left liberal or far-right conservative have impoverished mental models of the world.
Many liberals travel to Europe or other parts of the world and experience other cultures, but few spend quality time with reasonable, friendly conservatives, of whom there are many. A few conservatives spend quality time with reasonable, friendly liberals, of whom there are many. So instead of having direct experiences with the people whose outlooks differ from our own, our mental models tend to be heavily weighted by the stories that are repeated by other members of our tribes.
tracey marie April 9th, 2015 at 12:15 pm
she was never raped, a women would never use that type of speech if she was. stop excusing her behavior
burqa April 9th, 2015 at 8:44 pm
We’re all just speculating, but I’d need her to explain in detail how the two experiences are so similar.
We need to be aware of how misuse can drain the power of certain words that need to retain their meaning and impact. “Holocaust” is one, so is “genocide” and so is “rape.”
I was in the grocery store last week and some young employee at the register asked me for my store discount card and when I produced it he said “awesome.”
I replied, “The Grand Canyon is awesome. Astronauts walking on the moon was awesome. Ussain Bolt setting the record in the 100 meters at the Beijing Olympics was awesome. Me pulling this card out of my pocket was not awesome.”
He just got glaze-eyed and looked at me like I’d just stepped off a space ship from Mars and proceeded to miscount my change…
Robert M. Snyder April 9th, 2015 at 8:50 pm
On a couple of occasions I remained seated while most other parents gave standing ovations at the end of high school band concerts. Of course, I got some dirty looks. My thinking was similar to yours. If every concert gets a standing ovation, then the musicians will see standing ovations as nothing more than a formality. If everything is superlative, then nothing is superlative.
jasperjava April 9th, 2015 at 9:28 pm
Your reply was awesome. I mean that sincerely.
Guy Lauten April 8th, 2015 at 11:35 pm
That’s the thing with narcissist adults who’ve never left their adolescence: what ever happens to THEM is the MOST important thing ever. If it’s good, it’s GREAT! If it’s bad, it’s the WORST thing EVER! The “moderation in all” axiom seems to have never been mentioned or flown way over the heads of these big children.
labman57 April 9th, 2015 at 12:09 am
Wow, she managed to insult rape victims and ethnic minorities all in one fell swoop.
Racism expresses itself in a variety of ways.
Some knuckle-walkers are blatant and unabashed racists, as has been observed on numerous occasions throughout American history … such as when grumpy old white guys wax nostalgic for the days of yesteryear …. before the Civil War.
Other folks indignantly proclaim that “some of my best friends are (fill in the blank).” One may behave in an extremely civil manner — or even be friendly — toward someone of a different ethnicity … so long as that person does not offend one’s sensibilities or disagree with one’s political ideology.
It is often when confronting someone with whom one has a conflict that race suddenly becomes an issue and ethnic bigotry rises to the surface, such as when a person of color is the butt of a racially-insensitive joke delivered via email, tweet, or at a political event …. or even when someone fantasizes about blacks role-playing as slaves of the old South while waiting upon white folks at a plantation-themed wedding.
Some pundits smugly demonstrate their bigoted views by assuming that Barack and Michelle Obama — and just about every other left-of-center minority — must have attained their academic and professional successes by means of handouts and special favors, because it certainly could not have been the result of hard work and innate intelligence.
And for others, their racism is expressed by their tendency to apply stereotypical character traits to an entire ethnic demographic group of people, followed by a haughty disdain for these character traits and by their arrogant suggestion that they — as an outsider to the culture — understand the challenges facing people of said demographic group better than members of the group themselves.
rg9rts April 9th, 2015 at 2:13 am
Some sense of humor….could you see what she would say about Dachau?
fahvel April 9th, 2015 at 3:43 am
I’ve had more interesting stuff on the bottom of my shoes and when they soles are lugged it really stinks.
William April 9th, 2015 at 9:30 am
Serious? Is this the onion?
Barry Shitpeas April 9th, 2015 at 9:40 am
Her head looks like it’s been on fire.
lynchie April 9th, 2015 at 11:46 am
then put in a vice.
whatthe46 April 9th, 2015 at 1:33 pm
those eye brows make her look like she’s in a permanent stage of shock.
Snick1946 April 9th, 2015 at 10:45 am
Another clueless old white person. She sounds like they all do- it ‘wasn’t meant like that’. People need to ‘lighten up’.
The world is changing and people like her are getting tossed. Sad thing is, she will never understand what happened.
whatthe46 April 9th, 2015 at 1:35 pm
this is why i’m so thankful for technology. cameras catching lying cops and emails and FB catching ignorant fools.
oldfart April 9th, 2015 at 10:50 am
welcome to the 21st century honey. e-mails are forever.
don’t worry though, with your age, good looks, and job experience
I’m sure you’ll find lots of “jobs, jobs, jobs”…
AmusedAmused April 9th, 2015 at 11:31 am
The right-wing philosophy if rape: anything that hurts a right-wing person is like rape, except actual rape, which never actually happens, because it’s a feminist lie, and even if it does, it’s only because the victim is stupid or wants attention. Also, the only real rape is talking about rape like it’s even a thing, amirite?
But don’t worry, Ms. Twitty — your rape was clearly legitimate, so your body will shut that whole thing down.
lynchie April 9th, 2015 at 11:46 am
It was funny, I am sorry if anyone took offense. Yeah all the horse crap. Like the rest of the Ferguson government, racists, bigots and fools.
illinoisboy1977 April 9th, 2015 at 1:26 pm
Why would you use your work email to send any kind of joke? Work email is supposed to be used for professional communication, only. Jokes and fun are for after work. If I catch an employee being anything other than professional, even if there’s no racist or other improper connotation, they get disciplined. I’m not paying them to communicate frivilous nonsense, I’m paying them to do a job. Same thing should apply to all places of employment. If you send an email from your work account, it had better be all about business and it had better be 100% professional. I don’t care if someone wants to send a personal email from their personal email account, while on lunch or other break time, but if I get a complaint that they sent an offensive message from their personal account and it can be proven that they did it while at work, disciplinary measures will be likewise taken.
whatthe46 April 9th, 2015 at 1:34 pm
are you at work? lol.
illinoisboy1977 April 9th, 2015 at 1:49 pm
On lunch. I hold myself to the same standards as my employees. Even if I send out something personal, while at work, I make sure it’s not derogatory or defamatory. 😉
whatthe46 April 9th, 2015 at 2:24 pm
i’m at work too on lunch break. my home computer needs servicing, can’t get on the net at home right now, so i have to wait until i get to work to catch up with you guys and its driving me insane.
Mainah April 9th, 2015 at 2:06 pm
“I have a sister who is black.” um, really? Would she send her those emails then?
Does she not understand that she represents the Courts while in her position and should be professional. She wants to send those types of “jokes”, then she should do it from her phone, her home computer, or laptop, on her own time. Courts have to stay clear of any impropriety. She should know this.
tracey marie April 9th, 2015 at 5:31 pm
she also was raising the fines and the charges of black defendants while lowering fines and dismissing charges and fines for whites. One person was the judge who was also fired.
Mainah April 9th, 2015 at 5:36 pm
WOW!
allison1050 April 9th, 2015 at 9:05 pm
She’s a joke with funny colored hair and ‘do with long earlobes the lying cow.